Coen Brothers

Ethan Joel

Cahiers du cinema interview published 1996 Majid Valipour - Jan 2011

Brief history
• Raised in Academic Jewish family in Minnesota.
• Joel is three years older
•  Started making copies of Hollywood when they were kids
• Joel has a degree in film from NYU; Ethan studied
philosophy at Princeton
• In 1984, the brothers wrote and directed their first movie
Blood Simple. (many of their signature motifs and styles)
• Barton Fink (1991) was their critical success with a Palm
D'Or
• Fargo(1996) was their breakthrough at box office and Oscar
• No Country for Old Men (2007) brings the tandem Oscars
for best picture and director 
• Had to split the producer and director credits due to
Hollywood rules but no longer had to do so since they are
an "established duo".
3 pillars to understand Coens
1-Influence of Hollywood genres
•  As boys home-made remake of old Hollywood films
• As adults their movies are heavily references and subvert
classic genres
2-Their status as independent movie makers
•   Different from avant-gardes like Jim Jarmusch who make
movies for small elite (mostly European) viewer
• Prefer creative control over low-budget entertaining movies
for wide-market (coming from American independent horror
movie tradition e.g., Sam Raimi)
3-Paying attention to carefully detailed settings of specific eras
and regions
• Frozen North Dakota in Fargo
• Depression era in O brother where art thou?
• 60s and minnesota in the serious man
 1984 - Blood Simple

Film Noir Styling, Cult Success

Coens are independent but realist: wanted to make this black and white to be close to Noir
genre but to appeal to wider audience made it in color.
 1987 - Raising Arizona

Cartoonish Comedy
Coens are obsessive planners, putting virtually all the visual and cutting cues in
 the script. Actors cannot change a single word. Nicolas Cage: "Joel and Ethan have a vision
and I've learned how difficult it is to accept another artist's vision. They have an autocratic
 1990 - Miller's Crossing

Gangester Movies, Prohibition era

 1991 - Barton Fink

Cross of Hollywood satire and horror film, 1940's LA

Coen parodied, commented on, embraced, subverted, and renewed each genre.
Ethan: "The public expects certain things, certain typical situations that it was amusing for us
to change, subvert to."
 1996- Fargo

Realistic thriller, Frozen North Dakota, 2 Oscars

Frequently casts same actors. e.g., Steve Buscemi (6 times), spouse Frances McDormand
(5), Jon Polito (5), John Goodman (5), John Turturro (4), George Clooney (3 ), Michael
Badalucco (3),etc
 1998 - The Big Lebowski

mystery/pothead combination, LA
 
  2000 - Brother, Where Art Thou?

1930s Depression era in Missisipi

 2007 - No country for old man

Noir/Western themes, 1980's West Texas , 3 Oscars

Considered to be a departure since it does not use their regular actors
 2008 - Burn after reading

Black comedy with A-list cast

 2009 -  A serious man

Comedy, 1960s in Minnesota, most personal

Most of their work analyzes humanity's weak points and turning them into a kind of comedy.
 

• 1984 Blood Simple, film-noir styling

• 1987 Raising Arizona, cartoonish comedy
• 1990 Miller's Crossing, gangsters in prohibition era]
• 1991 Barton Fink, cross of Hollywood satire and horror film, 1940s LA
• 1994 The Hudsucker Proxy, 1940s-style comedy
• 1996 Fargo, realistic thriller, frozen North Dakota, 2 oscars
• 1998 The Big Lebowski, mystery/pothead movies, LA
• 2000 O Brother, Where Art Thou?,1930s Depression era in Missisipi
• 2001 The man who was not there, thriller in 1940s California
• 2004 The lady killer
• 2007 No country for old man, noir/western in 1980s era, tandem oscars
• 2008 Burn after reading
• 2009 A serious man, comdey, most personal film
• 2010 True Grit
2009 - TIFF for screening of "A serious man"